Zig Ziglar on The Power of Having a Positive Attitude

My friend and associate John Maxwell says, “Never underestimate the power of your attitude. It is the advance man of our true selves. Its roots are inward, but its fruit is outward. It is our best friend, or our worst enemy. It is more honest and more consistent than our words. It has an outward look based on past experiences. It is the thing which draws people to us or repels them. It is never content until it is expressed. It is the librarian of our past; it’s the speaker of our present, and it’s the prophet of our future.”

Many people have stated that attitudes are more important than facts, and research establishes that something like 85 percent of the reason we get jobs and get ahead in those jobs has to do with our attitudes. Unfortunately, among too many of our youth today, when someone speaks of attitude, it’s invariably a reference to a bad one.

Attitude is the key to education. It’s the key to getting along with others and moving ahead in life. The student with a right attitude is more than willing to study to accomplish the objective of passing. A worker with the right attitude will learn to do the job better and proceed cheerfully in doing that job. The husband or wife with the right attitude will handle difficult situations in a much more effective way and enhance the relationship substantially The physician with the right attitude will have a leg up in administering care to patients.

When everything else is equal or if there is any doubt, the coach will always choose the athlete with the best attitude. So will the employer or the man or woman seeking a mate.

Zig Ziglar was born in Coffee County in southeastern Alabama to parents John Silas Ziglar and Lila Wescott Ziglar. He was the tenth of twelve children.
In 1931, when Ziglar was five years old, his father took a management position at a Mississippi farm, and his family moved to Yazoo City, Mississipp...